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El Pueblo’s Advocacy Initiative |
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The Advocacy Initiative is dedicated to working with the Latino community, allies, policy-makers, English- and Spanish-language media, and the greater North Carolina community to inform and elevate the dialogue around policy issues at the local, state, and national level. Our efforts focus on several strategies, including: 1) advocacy and lobbying, 2) information gathering and sharing, 3) coordinating and convening statewide networks, 4) hosting local and statewide events, and 5) building the strength of Latino’s civic participation. |
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La Voz del Pueblo
If you would like to receive La Voz del Pueblo Weekly Updates, please send an email with your name and home address to Marisol@elpueblo.org. |
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Latino Legislative Agenda El Pueblo released its first Latino Legislative Agenda in 2001 after a meeting of community leaders and advocates at Camp New Hope. This group identified the major legislative issues and priorities facing the Latino community in North Carolina: health, education, workers’ rights, housing/economic development. Because these priorities have not been revisited in over five years, some community members raised questions about the lack of input and inclusion in what has become an important advocacy document.Community leaders and advocates asked that El Pueblo create more opportunities for contribution to and ownership of the Latino Legislative Agenda. In response, we planned a series of legislative assemblies throughout the Fall to “build the Latino Legislative Agenda.” This first set of Legislative Assemblies served as a model for grassroots agenda-building in which local organizations bring local community members together to discuss the major issues facing their communities with statewide advocacy organizations. Because this model was still in its pilot phase, we limited these meetings to six regions/areas: Wilmington, Greenville, Charlotte, Durham, Burnsville, and Morganton. We hope that given more time, experience, and grant support, this model of agenda-building can be expanded to include more regions/areas and more participants. The Legislative Assemblies brought community members together to ask one central question: What are the most important issues facing you, your family, and your community? Participants told us what those issues were and then ranked them according to importance. Their responses have become the basis for the 2007 Legislative Agenda. It is our hope that this participatory process has contributed to the community’s understanding of and involvement in legislative advocacy at the NC General Assembly. We know that it has deepened our own understanding of how to approach advocacy and strengthened our respect for the leadership that exists in our immigrant communities. Because so many organizations have already been doing so much work on some or all of these issues, we want it to be clear in our Agenda-building process that El Pueblo does not and has never done this work alone. We hope your organization will consider endorsing and/or supporting this agenda by sending your organization’s name and address to Marisol Jiménez McGee at Marisol@elpueblo.org. |
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3rd
Annual Latino Day at the Legislature |
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| Latino
Day at the Legislature 2005 |
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National
Day of Action for |
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| Charlotte
Rally for Immigration Reform; March 25, 2006 |
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